Local artist and author Bruce Newcomb has written and illustrated a children's book set in Taranaki.
Bruce says the book is "aimed at adults and children who cannot remember the last time they finished reading a book".
Ten per cent of proceeds from the book's sales will go to fundraising for hearing dogs for deaf people, says Bruce, who used to train them. "Nowadays, I look after them on a weekend, they are at school Monday to Friday then have the weekend with me," he says.
The book, Kiwi and Roo, is on sale in Stratford and thanks to a donation from "a very generous person", these ones will have the entire cost donated to the hearing dogs, not just 10 per cent.
Bruce says he has deliberately used New Zealand-specific words and slang to help make the book more relatable to modern children, and has included a glossary in the back explaining the meaning of the words for non-Kiwi readers.